Two runners suspended after failed doping tests at world championships

The Portuguese athlete Sara Moreira, pictured here after winning bronze in the 5,000m at the 2010 European Championships, has been suspended after failing a doping test at the 2011 World Championships. Photograph: Andreu Dalmau/EPA

A Portuguese steeplechaser and a South Korean sprinter have been suspended after failing doping tests at the world championships in South Korea.

Sara Moreira and Lim Hee-nam tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine in urine controls during the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, the International Association of Athletics Federations confirmed.

Moreira finished 12th in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, while Lim ran for South Korea's 4x100m relay team who finished fifth in their heat.

The IAAF said the positive findings were confirmed in testing of the backup "B" samples. Both athletes have been "provisionally suspended" pending disciplinary hearings. They were the only two positive cases reported from testing of 468 urine samples.

In addition, the IAAF collected a total of 1,849 blood samples, used mainly for monitoring an athlete's blood profile as part of the "biological passport" programme.

The blood samples were first screened in Daegu and have now been sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, for further analysis, including for EPO and growth hormones.

The IAAF president Lamine Diack said: "The testing programme in Daegu was an unprecedented success in terms of the number of samples collected."